Whooping cough cases are surging across the United States due to increasing vaccine hesitancy, with states reporting significantly higher numbers than last year. Experts warn that the actual number of cases is likely much higher as many go unreported. The rise in whooping cough is particularly concerning among adolescents and adults who may not have received booster shots since childhood.
“With the increase in vaccine hesitancy that has been going on since the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re seeing outbreaks occurring in kids who are not vaccinated,” said Dr. Tina Tan, president-elect of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. said that 14,569 cases of whooping cough had been reported so far in 2024. That’s a significant increase over last year’s total of 3,475 cases.
“While people can get pertussis at any age, Wisconsinites aged 11 to 18 currently make up nearly half of all cases reported so far this year,” the state’s health department said in a news release.Cases are rising, too, in Connecticut. “I don’t think we’ve seen this many in over 15 years,” said Dr. Andrew Carlson, a pediatrician and medical director for primary care at Connecticut Children’s in Hartford.
Most older kids and otherwise healthy adults who become infected usually don’t experience much more than that annoying cough. Babies should begin their first round of pertussis vaccines at 2 months, with follow-up shots at 4 and 6 months, Another shot is given before the child reaches age 2, and again around the start of kindergarten.
Whooping Cough Pertussis Vaccine Hesitancy Outbreaks Respiratory Infection
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